Our Geology graduates are highly competitive in the job market as their degrees provide them with a strong set of subject-specific and transferable skills, suited to a range of different sectors. Career directions particularly include renewable energy, sustainable resource extraction and environmental geology. As well as studying topics that consider the major global challenges of the 21st century, our graduates are able to demonstrate key skills in teamwork, communication, resilience, planning, and problem solving.

Key statistics

• 95% of graduates in work or further study after 15 months.
• More than 50 companies are actively involved with Geology at Leicester, from funding major research projects to work experience opportunities.
• Geology graduate employers include: Environment Agency, Network Rail, The British Museum, BP, Rio Tinto, British Gypsum, RSK, Jacobs, Hydrock, Zeiss, The Civil Service, Capita, The Government of South Australia, Isle of Man Government.

Supported by the University’s Careers and Employability Service, employability is embedded in all of our curricula from year one:

• The Leicester Award for Employability personal development programme is embedded in core year one and year two modules, providing students with opportunities to reflect on their motivations, personality traits, transferable skills, and future career goals.
• All students have lifetime access to and support from our award-winning Careers and Employability Service.
• We have a dedicated Geology Careers Tutor who works with the Careers and Employability Service to support careers fairs, disseminate job opportunities and career development courses, and to provide practical information.
• We run a School-wide annual careers day; recent speakers have included the Civil Service, Hatch Regeneris, Hydrock, RSK, the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency, Ordnance Survey and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
• All of our degrees include an additional ‘Year in Industry’ option, where the third year of the degree is spent on a work placement.
• Our School has links with many businesses and Government departments, including Natural England, the European Space Agency, the Home Office and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

Case studies

Zach Banks (MGeol, Geology) Senior Policy advisor for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero “My role is supported by the range of modules I selected in my degree, particularly the third year Environmental Geoscience  module and my fourth year ‘Hot topics’ module. These gave me confidence in presenting and developing new ideas, skills in evaluating arguments and ideas, and opened my eyes to the interactions between geology, human activity and legislation.”

Kiera McMahon (BSc Applied and Environmental Geology) Geological Engineer in the ground investigations industry “I work with drillers, excavators and engineers to plan construction and to monitor and mitigate the environmental impact of building works. This variously includes asbestos sampling, water quality monitoring and assessing foundations. My second and third year Mineral Resources for Net-Zero Carbon modules, and the Mineral Exploration, Economics and Sustainability module have really supported my career.”

Alfie Bower (BSc Geology) Offshore Geotechnical Engineer “My role involves the collection and interpretation of drilling vessel geotechnical data. Much of our work is focused on seabed surveys for future offshore wind farm construction. I use the practical skills from my degree most days, particularly through my role in describing and logging the variety of sediments and rock types in our drill cores, and in the interpretation of geophysical data.”

Alex Talbot-Wilson (BSc Geology) Graduate geologist at Glencore “I provide geological support for mining operations, including mapping and monitoring of mining pits using drones and GIS software, collection of near-pit data and development of our exploration programmes. The third year module Mineral Exploration, Economics and Sustainability influenced my career, and inspired being involved in the sustainable production of key resources for the future."

Maduo Makwati (BSc Geology) Hydrogeology Official for the Debswana Diamond Company, Botswana “My role is focused on understanding the role of hydrogeology in our mining operations. I collect mine borehole data, monitor rock porewater contents and sample groundwater for geochemical analysis. These data feed into our mine water balance modelling. I use a range of  skills from my degree, including geological mapping and logging, as well as industry-standard software such as ArcGIS.”

Careers and Employability Service